Rudolph the Red Nosed Yoshi
by Super Hyper Mario 128 III
Summary: You may have heard the story of Rudolph before, but never like THIS! Merry Christmas!
1. Misfits

_You know, I could live to be a hundred years old, but I'll never forget that huge snowstorm a couple of years ago. You might find it hard to believe, but that snowstorm almost stopped Christmas!_

_Oh, excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Mario. What, you've never seen a talking snowman based on a world-famous video game icon before?_

_Well, anyway, it sure is nice around here, isn't it? I call it Christmastown, but you may know it more as the North Pole. It's a wonderful place to live, despite the cold and all. It's even more of a treat during the Christmas season when everything is going as planed... not like when that snowstorm hit. I don't know what we would do if we didn't have Rudolph to pull us through._

_What's that, you say? You've heard the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer before? Well, I bet you haven't heard it quite like THIS!_

_Our story begins a few years before that snowstorm. It was springtime, and Santa's lead yoshi... Yes, lead** yoshi**... I told you this was going to be different! Where was I?... Ah yes, Santa's lead yoshi, Donder, had just become a proud papa... _

Inside Donder's cave, the little baby yoshi had just began to shake around in his egg, while his mom and dad looked on proudly.

"So, what should we name the tyke?" Donder asked.

"How about Rudolph?" his wife suggested, "That sounds like a wonderful name."

Almost as if on cue, Rudolph broke through his egg and immediately looked up at his parents.

"Heh, he's a pretty smart little guy, ain't he?" Donder exclaimed, "It's like he recognized his name!"

However, Donder suddenly noticed something odd about his son: Although he was, like his father, a green yoshi, his nose was red!

"Momma... Dada..." Rudolph muttered as his first words, while his nose began to start glowing!

"Woah! What the?" Donder sputtered, completely taken aback, "His nose is as red as a Pokéball! And it's glowin', to boot!"

"Well," Mrs. Donder began, "We should just look over that. He is our son, after all."

"Yeah, but... but... How are we suppose to ignore something that looks like he's got a fireball stuck on his face?"

Mrs. Donder didn't get a chance to reply before they heard a very familiar "Ho! Ho! Ho!" come from outside the cave.

"Uh, oh... It's Santa!" Donder mumbled to himself, "What is he gonna say when he sees my son's nose?"

"Hello there, Donder!" Santa greeted as he entered, "I came to see your new son. We have to see if he will be as great of a flying yoshi as his father!"

Santa walked over to Rudolph and looked him over.

"Well, you seem to be a sturdy little fellow!" Santa complimented.

"Santa?..." the baby yoshi asked inquisitively.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! He's a smart one, too!"

_Three... Two... One..._ Donder counted down in his mind.

Right on time, Rudolph's nose started glowing again!

"Woah!" Santa shouted, "His nose---"

"Erm... I'm sure he'll grow out of it..." Donder interrupted.

"I hope so. A yoshi with a red nose would look pretty odd pulling my sleigh, now wouldn't he? Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"I don't know what I'm going to do..." Donder lamented, "What if he doesn't grow out of it? What if he never makes the sleigh team because of it?"

"Oh, cheer up, Donder!" Santa replied, patting him on the back, "I was just joking around! I'm sure he'll make a fine addition to the team! Besides, who knows? Maybe that glowing nose will come in handy someday!"

_Well, Santa was right, he just didn't know that yet. You see, we all have gifts. Some are a little odd, that's true, but we all have something that makes us special, and usually, they play an important role at some point in our lives._

_Donder, however, wasn't convinced. He thought the only way Rudolph could get on the sleigh team was to hide his nose, and for quite a while, he was successful at it. During that time, he taught Rudolph all about being a yoshi: Where to find food, how to defend against enemies, stuff like that._

_But, there was one thing he taught him that was **very** important: To beware of the Abominable Monster of the North! This giant, furry monster was mean, violent, and hated everything about Christmas. He wasn't very bright, he had about the intelligence of... oh... a monkey, but you don't need many brains to cause a lot of havoc!_

_Anyhow, besides the abominable, everything was running smoothly in Christmastown. Soon, it was that time of year again: Christmas! Everything had to be ready for the big sleigh ride on the twenty fourth, especially the toys! Now, the toys are made by elves, they just have a natural talent for it. There are a few species of elves, most of them are toads, but some are more human in appearance, and one of them was a bit of a misfit..._

"LUIGI!" The elf boss, who was rather skinny and was wearing purple yelled, "WHAT'S TAKIN' YOU SO LONG TO PAINT THE TOYS? YOU HOLDING UP EVERYTHING!"

"Erm... Sorry, Mr. Waluigi, sir..." Luigi mumbled, "I didn't notice..."

Luigi looked around and saw the huge collection of wooden toys piled up in front of him on his section of the workbench. To his left was a bunch of toad elves, all crafting more toys for him to paint. They were all looking at him in a bullying manner.

"Didn't notice? You got a mountain of toys big enough to make Tall, Tall Mountain look like a Monty Mole hill! What's wrong with you?"

"I don't have my heart in it, I guess..." Luigi answered, looking downward, "I just don't like to make toys."

"Oh, well, if that's it..." Waluigi muttered as he turned to leave before suddenly doing a double-take, "WAIT A SECOND? YOU DON'T LIKE TO MAKE TOYS?"

This, obviously, was loud enough that all the other toad elves heard it loud and clear, and they began to point and laugh at Luigi.

"Ok, then, do tell: What _do_ you want to do?"

"Well, I'd like to be a... a plumber!" Luigi exclaimed.

"WHAT? A PLUMBER?"

"We need one up here!" Luigi explained, pulling out a book titled _Plumbing_, "What happens if one of the water pipes freezes over? Besides, it's so fascinating, with all the tools and all the different types of pipes and..."

"I DON'T CARE!" Waluigi screamed, swatting the book away from Luigi's grasp, "You're an elf! You're supposed to be making toys! Now, get to work!"

Suddenly, the break whistle went off.

"Ok, you all have a ten minute break!" Waluigi announced. All the other elves got up and began to leave. However, right as Luigi was about to get up, Waluigi grabbed an unpainted toy and threw it in his lap, knocking him back into his seat.

"Not for you! You have to make up for lost time! Otherwise... YOU'RE FIRED!"

Waluigi stormed out of the room, along with the rest of the toads. Luigi sighed, put the toy back on the table, and went to retrieve his book.

"Why am I such a misfit?..." Luigi moaned, "I'm not just a nitwit... You can't fire me, I quit! Seems I don't fit in!"

_Poor Luigi... Well, such is the life of an elf... At any rate, now that he was a bit older, Rudolph was having his problems as well..._

"Daddy... I don't wanna do _that_!"

Donder sighed. He was holding a bucket of green paint he had 'borrowed' from the elf workshop and was trying unsuccessfully to use it to cover Rudolph's nose.

"Why not? Do you care about your self-respect at all?"

"But... But... That stuff smells icky! I don't want to use it!"

"Grr... Hon, help me out here!"

"Sorry," Mrs. Donder replied, "I'm staying out of this one."

Growing impatient, Donder took the bucket and stuck the whole thing on his son's nose! By the time Rudolph managed to pull it off, the paint had done its job: His nose looked completely normal!

"See? That wasn't so bad, now wasn't it?"

The young yoshi didn't reply. Instead, he just quietly left the cave and sat outside for a moment to think.

"Why am I such a misfit?..." Rudolph cried, "I am not just a nitwit... Just because my nose glows... Seems I don't fit in!"


	2. Yoshi Games

_Well, time marches on... Christmas came and went like normal, and it was soon time for all the new young yoshis to meet the other new yoshis... Oh, and be inspected by Santa, as well!_

Out on a snowy field, a bunch of young yoshis were all playing around and having fun. A short distance away, Donder, Mrs. Donder, and Rudolph looked on. Rudolph's nose was covered up with green paint, and Donder seemed rather confident.

"Now, don't worry about that nose of yours," Donder assured Rudolph, "Not even the closest inspection would blow your cover! Now, go out there and make your father proud!"

Donder gave his son an encouraging shove in the right direction, pushing Rudolph towards the crowd. Another young yoshi, a completely red one, walked up to him.

"Hey there! How are you doing? My name's Fireball! What's yours?"

"Um... Rudolph..." Rudolph replied, still a little nervous that his disguise might not work.

"Nice to meet ya! You can be my buddy for the day! Come on, let's got play some yoshi games! It's a great way to get some babes!"

Rudolph, now a little less worried, obliged, and ran after Fireball to join in the fun.

_Oh boy... 'A great way to get some babes'? Aren't you a little young?... Anyway, the elves were still pretty busy at this time, too. Sure, they weren't making any toys, but that isn't all they have to do, you know!_

"Alright everyone!" Waluigi called out, "It's time for elf practice!"

All the toads began to assemble in a line. In front of them was none other than Santa himself, along with Mrs. Claus. Once everyone was there, Waluigi began to address them again.

"Ok guys, let's practice that new song I've been teaching you! Remember, it's for Santa!"

"Just give me the abridged version for now," Santa suggested, looking at his pocket watch, "I have to go down and check on the yoshis."

"Sure thing, Santa! Now, let's begin... A-one, a-two, a-one, two, three..."

With Waluigi as the conductor, the group of elf toads began to sing a rather cute song about themselves and how they help Santa. However, Santa didn't seem that interested in it at all; his mind was set more on checking out the new yoshis. When the song ended, Mrs. Claus applauded, but Santa quickly got out of his chair.

"Well..." Santa mumbled, "It wasn't that bad... There's a little room for improvement, though... Now, if you excuse me..."

Santa quickly got up and left the room. Mrs. Claus, however, stayed for a moment.

"Don't mind him," Mrs. Claus told Waluigi, "He just wants to inspect those new yoshis. Keep the song just the way it is!"

And with that, Mrs. Claus, too, left the room to try and find Santa and talk some sense into her husband. Waluigi, meanwhile, turned back to the elves, clearly upset.

"That was awful! There was barely any tenor section!"

"Wasn't our fault, boss!" one of the toads defended, "Luigi didn't show up for practice!"

"WHAT?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Luigi was sitting in the now empty elf workshop, with a dollhouse on the table, a doll in one hand, and a plunger in the other.

"What's that?" Luigi asked the doll, "Your toilet is clogged? Don't worry! I'll fix it!"

Luigi then stuck his head inside the dollhouse's bathroom. Using the plunger, he proceeded to 'unclog' the tiny, wooden toilet. Suddenly, Waluigi busted into the room with such aggression, Luigi's head shot up in shock and slammed into the ceiling of the dollhouse!

"WHY WEREN'T YOU AT ELF PRACTICE?" Waluigi roared.

"I was just fixing the plumbing in this doll's house," Luigi explained.

"JUST FIXING THE PLUMBING? Guess what, bub? There is no plumbing in a dollhouse! It's all made of wood!"

"I just figured it was a good way to fit in..." Luigi replied meekly.

"YOU'LL NEVER FIT IN!" Waluigi screamed as he began to leave the room, "You better show up for elf practice next time so you can learn something important! A plumber... Good gravy!"

Waluigi left the room, as mad as he was when he entered, while Luigi sat alone, quietly lamenting to himself.

"He's right..." Luigi sighed, "I'll never fit in..."

Slowly getting up, Luigi grabbed his plumbing book and went to leave the room. However, he realized that walking by all the elves outside would probably _not_ be a good idea. Instead, he opened a nearby window and attempted to climb out.

"Well, I guess I'm on my own now," Luigi commented as he pulled himself over the windowsill... Only to slip and fall into a snow bank right outside.

* * *

"Hey, check it out! Yoshi babes at three o' clock!"

"Um, ok... What should we do until then?"

Fireball playfully knocked Rudolph upside the head.

"No, silly! I mean they're over there!" Fireball specified, pointing.

Looking in that direction, Rudolph spotted a trio of female yoshis. One was pink, one was purple, and the last was light blue. The pink one seemed to be quite interested in Rudolph, making him blush a little. However, he was quickly interrupted by Fireball again.

"Uh, oh! Here comes the coach!"

An adult yoshi, this one yellow, came walking up and tried to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone! Settle down! Settle down!" he called out until all the young yoshis got quiet, "There, that's more like it. Now, my name is Comet, and I'm your instructor. For our first lesson, you have to learn how to fly! You can't pull Santa's sleigh if you can't fly, right? Right! Now, who wants to go first?"

Everyone began to jump up and down, trying to be picked first.

"Woah! Ok, only one at a time now! Hmm... How about you?" Comet said, picking out one of the yoshis (not Rudolph or Fireball), "Why don't you give it a go? It's quite simple: Simply get up enough speed and flutter-jump as hard as you can into the wind!"

The yoshi attempted to do what the instructor had asked, but as he began to flutter-jump, he flipped over and landed on his back! Some of the other yoshis began to laugh at this, but Comet remained optimistic.

"Not bad for a first try! Next!"

"Hey, Rudolph," Fireball whispered, "I don't think he'll get to us for a while. Why don't you go hit on that pink yoshi?"

Rudolph nodded and walked over to her. This was really the first time he was going to talk to a girl, so he was pretty shy. In fact, it was the female yoshi that spoke up first.

"Nice day, isn't it?" she commented.

"Yep..." Rudolph agreed quietly.

"So, you're having flight practice right now, huh?"

"Uh, huh..."

"I bet you'll be the best one out there."

"You really think so? Aw, gee..."

Rudolph began blushing again, but this time, his nose started to glow, too! Fortunately, the green paint covered it up a lot, but it still created an interesting lighting effect.

"Are you alright?" the pink yoshi asked, "Something's glowing on your nose..."

"Oh... It's nothing!" Rudolph quickly retorted, dimming his nose as best he could.

"Well, anyway," she continued, completely forgetting about it, "My name's Clarice."

"Mine's Rudolph," Rudolph replied, "Um... Say... After practice, do you want to---"

"Hey, Rudolph!" Comet interrupted, "Get back over here! You're next!"

"Yikes!" Rudolph shouted starting running back, but before he got to far, he turned back to Clarice and asked her, "Uh, what I mean to say is that, after practice, do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure!" Clarice answered. Right as Rudolph was about to continue back, Clarice went up to him and whispered, "Oh, and by the way, I think you're cute."

"She... She thinks I'm cute!" Rudolph muttered, "She thinks I'm cute! She thinks I'm cute!"

The now love-struck Rudolph began jumping around everywhere. In fact, he even started to flutter-jump and took off! He was flying sky-high! At this point, Santa had gotten outside and was watching Rudolph fly around.

"Hmm... Donder, your son is pretty impressive out there!" Santa complimented.

Rudolph eventually touched down in front of his pal, Fireball.

"Hey! That was cool!" Fireball congratulated, "You caught on quick!"

"She thinks I'm cute! She thinks I'm cute!" Rudolph kept repeating over and over.

"Heh, that's even better!"

As the two of them were celebrating, Fireball gave Rudolph a strong pat on the back. However, Rudolph wasn't expecting it, so he lost his balance and fell face-first into the snow! Even worse, when he got up, the snow had washed the paint off, revealing his glowing red nose!

"Woah! What the?... Your nose... It's... It's..." Fireball sputtered.

Upon hearing the word 'nose', Rudolph realized what had happened.

"But... But it's just red!" Rudolph tried to explain, "I mean, you're _entirely_ red, right?"

"Hey, now! What's goin' on here?" Comet demanded, when he suddenly saw Rudolph's nose, "Yipe! What the heck?"

It didn't take long before all of the other yoshis began to laugh and call him names.

"Look! He's got a Christmas tree light for a nose!"

"No, it's more like a Pokéball!"

"Or a Summon Matera!"

"Hey, guys, knock it off!" Rudolph pleaded, "Stop making fun of me!"

"Whatever you say, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Yoshi! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Oh, dear... I was afraid something like this would happen..." Santa sighed, "And he was really good at flying, too..."

"Ok, everyone! Calm down!" Comet shouted, "Come on, let's get back to practice!... _Except_ for Rudolph! From now on, he can't join in any yoshi games! Got it?"

Santa heard this, and he tried to lecture Comet for being judgmental. Rudolph, however, didn't hang around long enough to see if he succeeded in doing so. Instead, he ran off into the nearby woods. Clarice saw him leave, and she went after him and eventually caught up.

"Oh, man..." Rudolph moaned, "What do you want?"

"You said you wanted to go on a walk with me," Clarice reminded him.

"Are you gonna make fun of my nose, too?" Rudolph mumbled.

"No, I think it looks fine! Much better than that awful paint job you had before!"

"Yeah, right... It's terrible! It's different from everybody else's!"

"That's what makes it so great! You're unique!"

Rudolph started to cheer up a little. The two of them walked around for a while in the woods, chatting and getting to know each other, when suddenly a deep voice bellowed out.

"CLARICE!"

"Huh? Dad?" Clarice asked.

A black yoshi appeared and took Clarice by her hand.

"What are you doing out here with _him_? No daughter of mine is going to date a red-nosed yoshi!"

The father dragged her protesting daughter away, leaving Rudolph all by himself. Now as depressed as ever, Rudolph sat right next to an odd looking snow bank and began to cry. All of a sudden, the snow bank began to shake, and Luigi popped his head out!

"Oh! Excuse me!" Luigi apologized, "Is this your snow bank?"

"No..." Rudolph replied, "Who are you?"

"Well," Luigi began, pulling himself out of the snow, "I am a plumber!"

"A... A plumber?"

"Well... Actually, I _want_ to be. Right now, I'm just an elf... But I don't need anybody! I'm independent!"

"Independent?... Hmm... Well, so am I!"

"Hey, I know!" Luigi exclaimed, "Why don't we be independent together?"

"Really? You wouldn't mind my red nose?" Rudolph asked as his nose started to glow again.

"Not if you don't mind me being a plumber!" Luigi answered.

"It's a deal!" Rudolph agreed, as the two of them shook hands. Luigi then jumped onto Rudolph's back, and the two of them rode off into the distance.

_Now, these two misfits really didn't know what they were getting themselves into. The world is a much more complicated and dangerous place outside of Christmastown. If that wasn't bad enough, let's not forget about the Abominable, who was strangely attracted to Rudolph's glowing nose..._


	3. Wario Cornellus

_Well, somehow, Rudolph and Luigi survived the first night. It wasn't that easy, since the Abominable kept chasing after Rudolph's nose, but they managed. The next day, however, they encountered someone a **tad** odd..._

As the 'dynamic' duo of Rudolph and Luigi continued their trek across the snowy mountains of the North Pole, they began to hear something approaching. Afraid that it might be the Abominable again, they did the first thing they could think of: Try to hide in the side of a snow wall. It wasn't particularly convincing, but they had dived in head-first, so they wouldn't know.

Fortunately, it wasn't the Abominable at all. Instead, it was a rather heavy looking fellow with a crazy mustache. He was riding on a dog sled, but instead of dogs, it was pulled by weird, little, yellow creatures!

"Mush! Mush!" the rider yelled, cracking a whip to encourage them, "Come on, you stupid fronks, don'tcha know what the word 'mush' means?"

Glancing around, he noticed an odd sight: two pairs of feet sticking out of the side of a wall! Getting his sled-fronks to stop (which was much easier than getting them to go), he climbed off his sled and pulled Rudolph and Luigi out of the snow.

"Hey, what's up with you two, eh?" He grunted, "What, do you _want_ to get frostbite or somethin'?"

"Who are you?" Rudolph asked.

"Who am I?" the man replied, "My name is Wario Cornellus, the greatest prospector in the north! You know what's up here, don'tcha?"

Both Rudolph and Luigi shook their heads 'no'.

"GOLD!" Wario answered with a booming voice that was almost enough to start an avalanche, "And silver! Gold and silver! Silver and gold! Yahoo!"

Wario tossed a pick-ax into the air in excitement, only to have it bounce off his head and get stuck in the ground. Undaunted, he immediately pulled it out and closely inspected it, sniffed it, and even sucked on it like a lollipop.

"Eh... Nuthin'..." Wario shrugged.

_Heh, heh... Silver and gold, huh? Sounds like someone has his priorities out of order. There are things more important than material wealth, you know... Other than that, though, Wario didn't sound like **that** bad of a guy. He even seemed willing enough to give Rudolph and Luigi a ride..._

"Well, at any rate..." Wario began, "I was heading back to camp to restock on supplies. You know, gunpowder, bacon, climbing rope, bacon, new DS games that might have come out while I was gone, bacon... You get the idea. You guys need a lift?"

"Sure, why not?" Luigi responded, "We need some supplies too, right, Rudolph?"

"Yeah..." Rudolph agreed, a little embarrassed, "We kinda left without packing anything..."

"Try using some common sense next time..." Wario mumbled under his breath, "I mean, uh... Well, then, climb aboard!"

Rudolph and Luigi sat in the front of the sled, on top of Wario's remaining supplies, while Wario attempted to get the fronks to start moving again.

"Mush! Darn it, mush! Grr... MUSH!"

The fronks didn't even flinch.

"Oh, for the love of... Like this!" Wario moaned as he got off the sled, grabbed the ropes the fronks were supposed to pull, and pulled the sled himself. The fronks then climbed onto the sled with the misfits.

Suddenly, an all too familiar roar could be heard, and the Abominable came out from behind a mountain!

"Great galloping goombas!" Wario cried, "It's the Abomb... Aboob... Abomy... Aw, screw it! I can never pronounce his stupid name correctly! That _thing_ is coming after us!"

"It's my nose..." Rudolph lamented, "He keeps following us because of it..."

"Tell me when it's over..." Luigi whimpered as he dug his head underneath the supplies.

"Oh, you two cry-babies, knock it off!" Wario demanded, "He's just an overgrown monkey! We're humans!... Well, not you, Rudy, but still... The point is we have more brain power than that thing! We can outsmart it!"

"How?" Rudolph asked.

"Simple... RUN LIKE HECK!" Wario screamed at the top of his lungs.

Wario proceeded to do just that. He pulled the sled as fast as his pudgy little legs could carry it, with the Abominable in hot pursuit. In a pitiful attempt to lighten the mood, Wario debated on what more pronounceable name the Abominable should be called.

"Hmm... Let's see... He's a big ol' monkey, right?" Wario began.

"Um... I guess so..." Rudolph, who really wasn't that interested in the conversation as he was in the quickly gaining monster, replied.

"So we could call him 'Kong', or something to that effect... And he's really stupid, correct?"

"Uh... Sure... Whatever you say..."

"So let's see... What could represent 'stupid'?... I know! Donkeys are stupid! Let's call him Donkey Kong! Or DK for short! That's much easier to pronounce than Abo... His old name!"

"That really doesn't make much sense..."

"So? Who cares? Whatever works, right?"

"WHY ARE WE EVEN DEBATING THIS?" Luigi yelled, "WE'RE ALMOST GOING TO BE EATEN BY A MONSTER, AND YOU'RE TRYING TO COME UP WITH A NICKNAME FOR HIM?"

"Oh, shut up, elf-boy," Wario grunted, "He's not gonna catch up..."

Suddenly, Wario looked ahead, and came to a screeching hault. The trio found themselves on a small section of ice sticking out over the sea. They were trapped!

"... Or maybe he will..." Wario mumbled.

"Now what?" Rudolph sputtered.

"Wait a second... Of course!" Wario declared, "I know how to keep him away!"

Drawing his pick-ax, Wario began to chip away at the ice surrounding the group. With one final strike, the section of ice they were on began to float away from the Abominable!

"How do you like that, eh?" Wario commented, "Homemade icebergs!"

As the ice island slipped away, the Abominable walked right up to the edge of the water.

"Hey, guys, check it out! Observe DK's one weakness. Grab your cameras, folks, this is a good photo-op."

The Abominable, looking nervously out at the sea, stuck his big toe in the water. Immediately, he began shaking from the cold, turned, and left.

"See, the big guy _hates_ ice-cold water! Pretty convenient, huh?"

Wario, in celebration, tossed his pick-ax into the air again. When it dug itself into the ground, he went through his little 'pick-ax test' for a second time.

"Eh... Nuthin'..."

"We got rid of the Abominable... Now what?" Rudolph questioned.

"Well, now that _DK_ is gone," Wario began, trying to enforce his new name for the monster on the rest of the group, "You guys can come with me! We can go strike it rich looking for silver! SILVER, I tell ya!"

"Wait a sec... I thought you wanted gold," Luigi corrected.

"Gold... Silver... It's rare, it's expensive, it's the same thing."

Rudolph and Luigi just looked at each other. This was going to be an interesting trip, to say the least...


	4. Island of Misfit Toys

_Well, you can bet that, while Rudolph, Luigi, and Wario were off on their little adventure, the folks back at Christmastown were in a bit of a dither. After all, they really never had anyone run away before! Donder was particularly worried, since he felt mostly responsible for Rudolph running off. Therefore, he decided he had to go out and find his son. In fact, Mrs. Donder wanted to go along too, but Donder refused, claiming it was a father/son thing. Of course, that didn't stop her. As soon as Donder left, Clarice came over to see Mrs. Donder, and the two of them agreed to go look for Rudolph on their own. Unfortunately, they would have little luck finding him, as that little iceberg our heroes were on had now just entered a really big patch of fog..._

"Let's see..." Wario began, "I spy something---"

"Fog," Luigi replied in a deadpan voice.

"Hey! Let me finish my sentence before you guess!"

"All we've seen is fog for the last two hours!" Rudolph explained, "How do we know where we're going?"

All of a sudden, as if on cue, the iceberg shook violently, and the trio was dumped from their perch onto dry land! Wario immediately pulled his head up off the ground.

"LAND, HO!" Wario shouted.

"No duh, Sherlock," Luigi mumbled, slowly getting onto his feet.

"Hold on... Where are we?" Rudolph wondered.

Looking around, the group noticed a castle built into the side of a mountain overlooking the area! As Luigi was observing the structure, he slowly backed up to get a better view, not noticing the suspicious-looking jar with a crank behind him. When he accidentally bumped into it, the crank began to turn, and suddenly, a giant snake popped out of the top! This startled Luigi, causing him to leap into the air and land in Wario's arms for protection. Wario, on the other hand, quickly dumped Luigi onto the snowy ground.

"Halt!" the serpent hissed, "Who goes there?"

"Uh... Us?" Wario suggested, "Who'd ya think?"

"Oh, well, that's ok, then... WAIT A SECOND! Let me rephrase that: Who, may I ask, are you?"

"Well, I'm Rudolph," Rudolph introduced, "the elf's Luigi and the big guy's Wario Cornellus. Who are you?"

"I," the snake began, "am the official sentry of the Island of Misfit Toys."

"Island of Misfit Toys, eh?" Wario repeated, "And what toy are _you_ supposed to be?"

"A Jack-in-the-Box," the serpent answered.

"But you're a snake..." Luigi muttered, "... In a jar..."

The toy suddenly got a saddened look on his face and began to sob.

"Exactly! That's why I'm a misfit! I'm not Jack, and I'm not in a box! What kid wants to play with a _Snake-in-the-Jar_ on Christmas? Sob... That's why I had to come here, to the Island of Misfit Toys!"

"I see..." Rudolph replied, feeling sorry for the toy, "Are there any other misfits here?"

"Oh, sure! Here, let me introduce them to you..."

As soon as the serpent said this, a bunch of other misfit toys came out of hiding. The first to appear was a Pikachu plushy.

"Aw, how cute..." Luigi complimented, "Does he know how to summon lightning?"

Suddenly, the plushy let out a scream.

"YIKES! LIGHTNING? WHERE?... Oh, wait, there isn't any lightning... Sorry about that, I'm just petrified of lightning! Scared stiff of the stuff! I hate it!"

"I see..." Luigi moaned.

Next, a Shy Guy wind-up toy walked up to Wario and shook his hand... a lot.

"Hithere!Howareyoudoing?" The Shy Guy greeted at an incredibly fast speed, refusing to let go of Wario's hand, "I'maShyGuy,butmyproblemisthatI'mnotveryshyatall!Infact,I'mreallysocial!Icouldtalkforeverifitwasn'tforthefactthateventuallyI---"

The Shy Guy's voice began to slow down to a craw before stopping completely. Actually, his entire body stopped! Finally freeing his hand from his grip, Wario noticed that there was a giant wind-up key on the Shy Guy's back which had stopped moving. Apparently, the Shy Guy needed to be wound up again if he was to continue not being shy at all.

Soon, another toy came up and wound the Shy Guy back up, who then walked away to talk the ears off another misfit. The new toy looked like an action figure of someone in an orange spacesuit.

"Hello there. Who might you be?" Rudolph asked.

The figure didn't reply.

"Um... Hello?"

"Oh, that's Samus. She doesn't talk much," the Snake-in-a-Box explained, "Samus, go ahead and show him why you're a misfit."

The action figure obliged. She kneed down and, complete with a small light show, curled up into a little block!

"See? She's supposed to turn into a ball. Instead, she can only become a Morph Cube!"

"Hey, guys! Wait up!" called out a voice. Slowly, a Sonic Doll came walking out from behind a hill.

"Sorry to keep ya waiting! I know, I know... I'm supposed to be the fastest thing alive, but I can barely manage a crawl! Way not past cool, huh?"

Finally, a green, elf-like hat hopped over to the quickly increasing in size group. Oddly enough, on the tip of the hat was a bird's head!

"Hello," the hat began, "I'm Ezlo, otherwise known as the Minish Cap. Just one problem..."

Suddenly, the hat began to grow until it was as big as Wario!

"I can't make anyone tiny, I can only become really big!"

Looking at this crowd of misfits, a light bulb went off in Rudolph's head.

"I know!" Rudolph exclaimed, "We're misfits, too! Right, Luigi?"

"Um... You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking..." Luigi shuttered.

"Why don't we live here as well? I mean, this _is_ an island for misfits!"

"Well..." the serpent began, "If you want to stay, you'll have to check with King Wart."

"Who in the blazes is King Wart?" Wario demanded.

"He rules this island from that castle," the snake explained, using his head to point towards the structure the trio had looked at when they first arrived, "Every night, he sends Fly Guys out to search the world over for misfit toys. If they find a toy that no one wants, they bring it back here to live in peace until someone wants it. I suggest you go see if he'll let you guys stay. He's holding court right now!"

* * *

As it turned out, Wart was a bit of a misfit himself: He was a giant frog! However, besides that, he seemed like a rather wise fellow. As Rudolph, Luigi, and Wario entered the throne room of his castle, he began to address them.

"Welcome to the Island of Misfit Toys," Wart greeted, "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we're from Christmastown, and we'd like to stay here," Rudolph answered.

"Are you misfits?"

"Me and Rudy are," Luigi specified, "Wario's just plain nuts."

"HEY!" Wario shouted, beating Luigi over the head with the blunt side of his pick-ax.

"Hmm..." Wart pondered, "I'm afraid you can not stay here."

"What? Geez..." Wario grunted, "You guys can't even catch a break on an island _full_ of misfits!"

"Unlike toys, living things can't just hide on an island for the rest of their lives," Wart explained, "I'm sure you have family and friends that are probably worried about you, correct?"

"Yeah..." Rudolph muttered, thinking about his parents and Clarice.

"However, since you are from Christmastown, perhaps you can help _us_!"

"Huh? How?" Luigi asked.

"When you return to Christmastown, could you please tell Santa about our island? I'm sure _he_ could find a home for all of these poor toys! After all, a toy is never truly happy unless it's loved by a child."

"Don't worry," Rudolph assured, "The next time we return to Christmastown, we'll tell Santa!"

"Good. For that, I will let you stay for the night. Sonic will show you to your room."

Turning around, Rudolph, Luigi, and Wario saw that Sonic was standing there the whole time, and he began to lead them to where they'd be staying for the night... moving as slow as molasses for the entire way.

"Of course he chooses the slow one..." Wairo groaned.

* * *

When they eventually reached their quarters, the trio climbed into three separate beds that had been conveniently set up for them.

"Well then, that settles it!" Luigi proclaimed, "We leave for Christmastown tomorrow... together!"

"But... But... If we go together, DK will see my nose again and get all of us at once!" Rudolph protested, "I have to go alone, separate from you guys!"

"Nonsense!" Wario retorted, "We're gonna do this together! It's all for one and two for tea!... I mean... Two by four!... Erm... Oh, heck with it, let's just go to bed!"

"Alrighty then! Good night, everybody!" Luigi said as he turned off the lights. While Luigi and Wario quickly fell to sleep, Rudolph stayed awake, thinking to himself, while his nose made a soft, red glow inside the cabin.

_Well, poor Rudolph knew that he couldn't keep threatening his friends' lives anymore. So, that night, he set off on his own, sacrificing his own safety so that Luigi and Wario could reach Christmastown. He didn't know how long he'd have to a decoy for the Abominable, but he understood it was the least he could do for his friends. Just one question remained: What would happen to him now?_


	5. The Cave of the Abominable

_Well, Rudolph kept on the run for quite some time. Sure, once in a while, he made a friend or two with the local wildlife, but DK... Erm... The Abominable was relentless in chasing him, so he'd have to leave then soon afterwards. During all of this time, something wonderful happened... Rudolph grew up into a strong, handsome yoshi like his father. Now that he was older, he realized that King Wart was right; you **can't** run away from all of your problems. So, he did what he knew he had to do: Return home._

"Hey, look who's back! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Yoshi! Ha ha ha!"

Rudolph simply ignored the 'welcoming committee' he received when he first arrived at Christmastown. After spending months out in the wilderness avoiding a monster monkey, a few insults didn't seem so bad. Instead, he quickly ran towards his family's cave.

"Mom! Dad!" Rudolph called out as he entered, "I'm home!... Mom?... Dad?..."

Rudolph looked around. There was no one inside the cave!

"Huh? Where are they?"

"Rudolph? Is that you?"

Rudolph quickly turned around, hoping to see his father. Instead, it was Santa who was standing outside the cave.

"Where's my parents?" Rudolph asked.

"Donder left a while ago to look for _you_! We haven't seen him for months!"

"What about my mom? Or... Clarice?"

"Both of them are also out there looking for you! I'm worried about them. After all, Christmas Eve is only two days away, and Donder is my lead yoshi!"

Suddenly, Rudolph got a determined look on his face.

"Don't worry, Santa, I'll find them!" Rudolph promised as he marched out of the cave.

_Now, Rudolph tried to begin his search for his parents (and Clarice), but, ironically enough, that night... **It hit**! That infamous snowstorm! And only two days before Christmas! This didn't stop Rudolph, however. He was determined to find his family, and he knew where he had to look: The Cave of the Abominable Snow Monster!_

Nervously, Rudolph peeked his head into the cave, and saw just what he expected... and feared. Inside the cave were his dad and his mom cowering in fear, for the Abominable was right in front of them! At first, he couldn't find Clarice, but he soon saw her... in the grip of the Abominable! He was trying to eat her!

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Rudolph demanded.

"R... R... Rudolph?" Donder, Mrs. Donder, and Clarice all replied in shock.

The Abominable didn't make any verbal response. Instead, he put Clarice down and charged at Rudolph. Since yoshis were always experts in speed, Rudolph simply sidestepped the monster, causing him to trip and fall on his stomach. While he was on the ground, Rudolph attempted to give him a few sharp flutter-jump bicycle-kicks on his backside. Sadly, while they had speed, yoshis lacked power, so the kicks did little to nothing to the overgrown monkey. The Abominable simply got back up, grabbed a nearby stalactite, and threw it at Rudolph's head! The yoshi was knocked out cold, and the monkey stood over him laughing sinisterly.

_Is it over yet?... Oh, it is? Now where was I?... Ah yes... Things were starting to look pretty hopeless. Fortunately, there was still one last chance. You see, ever since Rudolph left them, Luigi and Wario had been searching all over for their friend! They finally reached Christmastown right as the snowstorm hit. Once, there, someone pointed them into the right direction to where Rudolph was. Who? Why, your's truly, of course!_

Wario was getting his fronks to pull the sled as fast as he could, while poor Luigi was holding on for dear life. The sled was blasting over snowy hills, made all the more higher thanks to the snowstorm. Eventually, after a few stomach-churning drops, the Abominable's cave came into view.

"Hey, look!" Luigi exclaimed, pointing towards the cave.

"Good job, Captain Obvious!" Wario retorted, "Why don't you tell me that DK lives there while you're at it?"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me! DK lives in that cave!" Luigi replied sarcastically.

"Right... At any rate... Whoa! WHOA!" Wario shouted, trying to get the sled to slow down, "For crying out loud... First I can't get 'em to go, and now I can't get 'em to stop!"

Eventually, Wario got the fronks to stop, and the two heroes climbed off the sled and approached the cave.

"So... Now what?" Luigi asked, "We can't let DK... _eat _them!"

"Don't you worry about a thing, elf-boy!" Wario assured, "I have an idea!"

The two huddled together and discussed the plan.

"You know..." Luigi commented, "Your plan is really crazy... So crazy, in fact, that it just might work!"

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Donder, Mrs. Donder, and Clarice surrounded Rudolph's limp body, trying to wake him up. The Abominable was standing over them, doing his usual growling.

"Come on, Rudolph, wake up!" Clarice pleaded, shaking him.

"Ugh..." Rudolph moaned as he slowly came to, "Dad... Mom... Clarice..."

When the monster saw this, he let out a 'victory roar' and began doing a little dance. Luigi was watching all of this from outside the cave and was starting to get a little anxious.

"Uh... Wario? Are you sure this will work?"

"I said don't worry!" Wario repeated as he scaled the wall near the entrance to the cave, "Trust me, ol' DK would rather have _that_ over yoshi meat any day!"

Luigi sighed, cupped his hands around his mouth, and hollered, "BANANAS! GET YOUR RIPE, YELLOW, BANANAS HERE!"

This quickly got the Abominable's attention. He left the yoshis and began to walk out of the cave. Outside, Luigi ran out of the way, while Wario, who was now right above the entrance to the cave, and thus right above the monkey, rapidly chipped away at the rock wall. Just in time, Wario managed to pry a huge boulder lose, which landed right on the monster's noggin!

"Lookie here!" Wario declared, "He's out like a Christmas light! Plumber, you know what to do! Heh, heh, heh!"

Luigi nodded as he pulled out his plumbing gear and approached the unconscious Abominable.

"Hey, it's Wario!" Rudolph called out, "We're saved!"

"In the flesh!" Wario replied

"Come on!" Donder shouted, "Let's get out of here!"

Before they could leave, though, the Abominable woke back up! However, something was different about him: His arms were stuck inside a giant pipe! Luigi was standing right next to him, chuckling to himself.

"I knew an extra, extra large pipe would come in handy someday!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Good job, green!" Wario yelled, "Now, let me take care of DK once and for all! He's nothin' without his big ol' arms!"

Wario, as well a few of the fronks, charged at the Abominable, knocking him backwards. However, what Wario didn't notice was that, right outside the cave, was a large cliff! With one final shove, Wario knocked the Abominable... _and himself_... right over the side of the cliff!

"WARIO!" Rudolph and Luigi both screamed.

The two of them quickly ran to the edge of the cliff and looked over, but they couldn't find him.

"He's... He's... gone..." Rudolph sobbed.

_Well, everyone is quite sad over the loss of Wario, who sacrificed himself to save everyone else. However, they realize that the most important thing is to get the female yoshis home. And so they did, with heavy hearts over their lost friend._


	6. Christmas Eve

_So, our heroes, sans Wario, returned to Christmastown, and when they tell everybody their story, the others realize that maybe they were a little too hard on Rudolph and that, maybe, there **is** a place for misfits after all._

"Ho ho ho!" Santa cheered, "I'm glad to see that you are all safe and sound! Rudolph, I promise that, as soon as this snowstorm lets up, I'll find a home for all those misfit toys!"

"Grumble... Alright, alright, Luigi..." Waluigi groaned, "If you _really_ want to, I'll let you start running your plumbing business... In a week! Just wait until after Christmas, dang it!"

Almost as if on cue, what sounded like a pipe exploding along with water splashing all over the place echoed in the main hall from a nearby room.

"What the?... What was that?" Waluigi shouted, "Oh, great... I think one of the sinks burst in the restroom!"

"Heh heh... Are you sure you want me to wait a week?" Luigi mockingly asked, pulling out his plumbing tools and walking towards the bathroom, "I think that will become a frozen geyser by then!"

As Luigi walked off to begin his first real plumbing job, Donder approached Rudolph a little nervously.

"Um... Son?" Donder mumbled, "I'm... I'm sorry about how I treated you because of your nose... That wasn't very fatherly of me, now was it?"

Rudolph didn't get a chance to answer before there was a loud knock on the door.

"HEY! HELLO? ANYBODY HOME?" came an all-too-familiar shout, "HOW ABOUT LETTING ME IN, HUH? IT'S TOO DANG COLD OUT HERE FOR MAN OR MONKEY!"

Some of the toad elves obliged by opening the door, and in waltzed none other that Wario himself! He came in with his sled and sled-fronks, but he appeared to be pulling in something else as well.

"Well, here's the man..." Wario began, before giving a huge tug on what he was pulling, "Now, met the monkey!"

Suddenly, the abominable entered the room as well! It seemed that what Wario was pulling him in with was a giant necktie he made that (surprise, surprise) had _DK_ embroidered on the front. Everyone gasped in horror, but Wario quickly calmed them down.

"Hey now, don't freak out on me here!" Wario assured, "The guy's just a big ol' softy! The only reason he was so cranky all the time was because he was deprived of the one thing he loved..."

Wario dug deep into his pant pocked before pulling out a familiar yellow fruit. The Abominable quickly grabbed it and gobbled it up.

"Bananas! He just wanted bananas! Of course, you can bet he was thrilled when he discovered that I had a bunch of them back at my base camp! Now, he's just as jolly as the rest of you guys! In fact, he wants a job here! Lookie what he can do!"

Grabbing the nearby star tree-topper (it wasn't on the Christmas tree yet), Wario handed it to the overgrown monkey, who promptly placed it on top of the tree with no trouble at all.

"Heh heh... He doesn't even need a stepladder!"

"But... But..." Rudolph sputtered, "We saw you fall off that huge cliff! How could you?..."

"Wha ha ha! Didn't anyone ever tell ya?" Wario asked, "DK _always_ lands on his feet!"

_Natually, everyone was excited about all of these homecomings, but this was no time to celebrate! Christmas Eve was tomorrow! If they were to get all the presents finished, they would have to work double-time (except for Luigi, who was still busy fixing the pipe bust)! While the toads were busy making the toys, however, Mrs. Claus was facing an arguably more difficult challenge..._

"Come on, eat!" Mrs. Claus demanded, "The kids are expecting a FAT Santa!"

Santa just looked at his plate.

"I can't concentrate!" he pleaded, "That blasted elf song is driving me crazy! It's even worse than that one year when every child wanted Sonic R for Christmas and I got _Can You Feel the Sunshine?_ stuck in my head!"

Mrs. Claus cringed. She could relate to that: It happened to her, too. However, before the debate could go on any longer, a snow-covered toad walked into the room.

"Here's the current weather..." The toad mumbled, "If I catch phenomena, I get hazard pay, right?"

Santa ignored the elf's sarcastic joke and looked over the report.

"Oh, dear..." Santa sighed, "This snowstorm... It isn't going to let up by tonight... If I can't see more than two feet in front of my sleigh because of the snow, then... I guess I'll have to... cancel Christmas..."

"Cancel Christmas?" Mrs. Claus repeated in shock, "But you can't do that, can you? What about the children?..."

"I know... I know... They've been really good this year, too. But I just can't risk it. I guess I better go and make the announcement..."

His head hung low, Santa left the dining room and returned to the main hall, where everybody was just about finishing up the final preparations.

"Quiet, everyone, quiet down..." Santa requested, "I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

"Uh... Let me just take a wild stab at this..." Wario interrupted, "It's got something to do with the snowstorm, right?"

"Yes, it does, I'm sad to say. You see, it's snowing so hard, I simply can't guide the sleigh though the downfall! Therefore, the only other option, tragically, is to cancel Christmas."

Everyone gasped. Cancel Christmas? That can't be! Everyone began to mumble to each other in confusion about the announcement. Rudolph, who was standing closest to Santa, felt particularly bad and, although he didn't realize it, his nose began to glow brightly. Santa did, however, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head.

"Rudolph... That's it! Your nose!" Santa exclaimed, "We don't have to cancel Christmas! That glowing nose of yours could light the way! I'm sure I could see far ahead of the snow if you use your nose! What I'm trying to say is: Rudolph, with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Upon hearing this, Rudolph's face lit up (pun intended).

"It would be an honor, sir!" he replied.

Quickly, the gasps turned into cheers for the now heroic misfit. Everyone immediately went back to preparing for the legendary flight, including Luigi and Wario.

"Well, what do you know? Santa was right all along..." Donder said to his wife as he was strapping himself into his harness near the front of the sleigh, "His nose _did_ come in handy after all..." he paused for a moment and looked upwards, "Whoever gave him that gift... Thank you."

Santa, meanwhile, was still being pestered by Mrs. Claus to eat up. Eventually, he was plump enough for her standards, so he put on his famous red coat and hat, grabbed his bag of toys, and climbed into his sleigh. Looking ahead, he saw all _nine_ of his yoshis settled up and ready to fly, with Rudolph in the lead.

"Are you ready, Rudolph?" Santa asked.

"Yep!" Rudolph replied, giving him a thumbs-up.

Right before take-off, Clarice quickly ran up to Rudolph and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good luck out there." She whispered.

This quickly got Rudolph in high spirits as the toads opened up the doors leading outside into the snowstorm.

"Ok, then! Off we go!" Santa called out, "First stop: The Island of Misfit Toys!"

Then, with all the triumphant fan-fare one could ask for, Santa's sleigh, with Rudolph shining his nose into the storm, flew up into the sky.

"Yeah! Great job!" Donder, who was right behind Rudolph, called out, "Keep it up! That's my son!"

Meanwhile, on the ground, Clarice and Mrs. Donder were also cheering him on.

"He'll be a hero after this!" Mrs. Donder exclaimed.

"Maybe even a legend!" Clarice continued.

Wario, however, wasn't as concerned with Rudolph as he was trying to get his fronks to learn a thing or two from the yoshis.

"See, you yellow headed nitwits? That's how you pull a dang sleigh... or sled... or whatever!"

To drive his point home, he tossed his pick-ax into the air again. When it embedded itself into the ground, he pulled it out and did his little test once more, only this time, his eyes suddenly widened up considerably.

"Great galloping goombas! I've found it!" Wario cried.

"What? Gold?" Luigi asked, as he was standing right next to him watching Rudolph.

"No, not gold... Garlic! I've found a garlic mine! I'll be rich, and well fed, to boot!"

Luigi stood there for a moment before performing an anime fall in disbelief.

* * *

It was a cold, dark night on the Island of Misfit Toys. All of the toys that Rudolph, Luigi, and Wario met when they visited where huddled around a small campfire, trying to keep warm.

"Well, it's Christmas Eve..." the Snake-in-a-Jar began.

"... And there's no Santa..." the Sonic doll grunted, "... Looks like we're way past forgotten again..."

The Samus action figure didn't say anything. She just curled up into a Morph Cube to try and conserve heat.

"But Rudolph promised that he'd come to get us!" Ezlo retorted, "Do you think maybe the snowstorm was too much?"

Before anyone could reply, a red glow began to shine in the sky.

"YIKES!" The Pikachu plushy squealed, "IS THAT LIGHTNING? I HATE LIGHTNING!"

"Waitasecond!That'snotlightning!" The not-so-Shy-Guy rambled, "That'sSanta'ssleigh!AndRudolph'sinthelead!Theydidcomebacktogetusafterall!Oh,boy!Oh,boy!Oh,boy!Oh..."

He had just about wound down when Santa landed in front of all the toys.

"Ho, ho, ho!" Santa shouted, "Nice to see all of you here! Now, climb aboard so we can be on our way, shall we?"

Of course, the toys all happily obeyed. In almost a matter of seconds, they were all in the sleigh and ready to go.

"Ready, Rudolph?" Santa asked.

"Ready, Santa!" Rudolph replied.

And so, the sleigh took off again, ready to deliver presents to all the good boys and girls around the world.

_Well, I don't think I need to tell you what happened to Rudolph next... **He went down in history!** Merry Christmas, everyone, and may the gifts **you** receive, or already have this holiday season, regardless of how strange or awkward they may seem, be of great use to you throughout the whole year!_


End file.
